Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa

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The feature-length adventure expands the series' scope.

By Jeremy Mullin

Two years have past since Edward Elric sacrificed himself to restore his brother, Alphonse, to life. Now living in the real world in 1923 Munich, Ed has been studying rocketry alongside Alphonse Heiderich, the alternate version of his brother, to find a way back home. But when he saves a young gypsy girl named Noah from some mysterious men who want to use her psychic gifts, Ed is drawn into a plot by the Thule Society and the burgeoning Nazi Party to overthrow Germany. Their plan is to open the gate to the legendary Shamballa, which is in reality Ed's homeworld, and use its powers for their own means. Meanwhile, Al has also been trying to find a means to reunite with his brother, but his attempts could cause the destruction Ed is trying to stop.

Making a movie following the end of a popular anime series like Fullmetal Alchemist is nothing new. Like The End of Evangelion, Conqueror of Shamballa gives FMA a proper ending, wrapping things up for the characters and at same time, showing what they've been up to since the end of the series (wait'll you see what happened to Gluttony; talk about letting yourself go!). And this film doesn't disappoint, continuing the insane action, conspiracy theories, philosophical discussions, plot twists and occasional comedic moment that made the original TV series so popular. We even get a brief bit of fan service in this one! I won't say who, given FMA's abundance of female characters, but it might come as a bit of surprise to some.

History buffs will really get a kick out of this one, since the majority of the film is set in post-World War I Munich. There's quite a few references to the Treaty of Versailles, especially when the people complain about the government and how the Jews and Communists are taking over. There's even an actual historical event that takes place in the movie, the Munich Putsch attempted by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, which of course failed and landed the future Fuhrer in prison. Also as per the rules with historical fiction, there are appearances by actual historical figures. Not just Hitler, but also acclaimed silent film director Fritz Lang (more on him later), supposed clairvoyant Erik Jan Hanussen and geopolitical professor Karl Haushoffer, who, along with Lang, plays a major role in the story. These sort of references make the movie all the more enjoyable and shows the detail the producers went into the research.

One of the major themes of this movie is physics versus alchemy, each represented by two different worlds where one is dominant over the other. This is evident by the beginning of the movie, set during Ed's days as a State Alchemist, where he and Al stopped a madman named Huskisson, who sees physics as true power and uses steam engine technology to build a bomb. Don't worry, folks, this is here for a reason, and it'll make sense when you watch the movie. Then you've got the real world, where physics dominated over alchemy, so people there see it as magic and have no real understanding of how it works. It goes to show you how funny things can be where something could very well have happened differently.

Speaking of parallel worlds, that's something of a running gag throughout the movie. As Ed has been living in Munich, he's been running into people who are the counterparts to the ones he knows in his world. Aside from Alphonse, who resembles Al, we got Noah, who looks like Rose, as well as Fritz Lang, who looks like King Bradley. There are even counterparts to Hughes, Dante (or, more accurately, Lyra), and many others (Alphonse's crew even resembles Greed's Chimera henchmen!). So characters who died in the TV series get to make a return appearance for the movie... sort of. Anyone who's seen Star Trek, however, can know that in parallel worlds, things can be quite different, especially the people. Lang is a good example, a kind-hearted director and visionary in the real world as opposed to the war-mongering Fuhrer in the alchemy world. Then we've got Hughes, a likeable guy in the alchemy world but a jerk in the real world (just wait until his real colors get revealed). It's just one more thing that makes this movie fun to watch, seeing these familiar characters and comparing them to each other. Only bummer is that we don't get any for Armstrong or Mustang, but it does make it fun imagining what they'd be like.

Score: 9 out of 10

The Video Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa is presented in Anamorphic Widescreen (16:9), preserving the theatrical aspect ratio. FUNimation did a great job transferring this movie to DVD, giving a nice clean video to enjoy. The widescreen format makes it even better, as we can see the film as it originally appeared on the big screen.

One interesting thing about the movie's presentation is the visual looks for the two different worlds. The real world has a muted, somewhat grainy tone to it, while the alchemic world is brighter, similar to the look of the TV series. This makes it all the easier to tell the two apart, aside from the obvious differences in technology. Either way, it's still a great movie to watch, and you don't miss a thing.